Masaharu Morimoto Quotes & Sayings

“I'm not a fighter, but in my mind I'm fighting every day. 'What's new? What am I doing?' I'm fighting myself. My soul is samurai. My roots aren't samurai, but my soul is.”

“On behalf of my native Japan, I am grateful to the culinary community and hospitality industry for working together to raise much-needed funds to aid the tsunami and earthquake victims.”

“A kitchen without a knife is not a kitchen.”

“Ramen is a dish that's very high in calories and sodium. One way to make it slightly healthier is to leave the soup and just eat the noodles.”

“When I was a kid, I have two dreams. I want to be a baseball player. Hometown, Hiroshima, has a Japanese baseball franchise team called Hiroshima Carps. You know, and then I want to be a sushi chef. I want to make own restaurant - sushi restaurant.”

“I've been making sushi for 38 years, and I'm still learning. You have to consider the size and color of the ingredients, how much salt and vinegar to use and how the seasons affect the fattiness of the fish.”

“No rules. Don't be afraid to do whatever you want. Cooking doesn't have to have rules. I don't like it that way.”

“I'm not making art, I'm making sushi.”

“Japanese chefs believe our soul goes into our knives once we start using them. You wouldn't put your soul in a dishwasher!”

“A lot of people think Japanese food is difficult, a lot of work. But you don't have to buy the knife I have. You don't have to train as long as I have. You can do my cooking in your kitchen.”